Yorba Linda, California, is best described as a residential community with a small town feel and easy access to the Los Angeles metro-area. The city’s gorgeous parks cater to equestrian sports, family activities and nature-lovers. Yorba Linda’s population of 64,000 enjoys excellent schools, abundant natural beauty and open space, a wonderful library and community center, and impressively active youth sports organizations.
Location
The city of Yorba Linda sits in the Anaheim Hills in the northeastern corner of Orange County, California. Yorba Linda is just southeast of the City of Brea. The Imperial Highway bisects Yorba Linda from north to south, and Highway 91 runs along the southern border of town. The Chino Hills State Park and the Black Gold Golf Club are located on the north side of town.
Yorba Linda is located in the in the Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area. It is approximately 40 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles and 13 miles northeast of downtown Santa Ana, the Orange County seat. Anaheim, with a population of over 200,000, is just 20 minutes away. Yorba Linda offers the best of both worlds – a rural-like setting close to everything.
Geography
Yorba Linda is small in size, about 19 square miles. One of the best things about the town is its semi-rural feel. Residents enjoy an extensive system of landscaped streets and greenbelts throughout the city. Also, the city’s north and northeastern sides are bordered by open space. Yorba Linda sits at 397 feet above sea level and it is about an hour away from the beach.
Jobs
Industries providing employment in Yorba Linda include educational, health and social services (17.9%), manufacturing (16.3%), finance, insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing (10.8%), retail trade (10.8%), and professional, scientific, management, administrative (10.6%). Also, 16% of workers live and work in Yorba Linda. The average commute time for residents of Yorba Linda who work in other cities is 30 minutes.
Major employers in Orange County include Boeing Co., aircraft manufacturers, California State University, First American Title Insurance Co., Ingram Micro Inc., NBTY Manufacturing, Santa Ana College, St. Joseph College, St. Jude Medical Center, and State Compensation Insurance.
Housing
Yorba Linda is a residential community of primarily single-family homes on large lots. There are a very nice variety of housing options in Yorba Linda including townhouses starting in the high $300,000s, detached single-family homes with a median price of $795,000 (as of January 2005), and gorgeous, private estates starting at $1.5 million. Some of the 1920s-era “craftsman” style homes can be found in quaint neighborhoods as well as modern California architecture.
The Vista Del Verde master planned community is located on the The Black Gold Golf Club and it eventually will include 2000+ homes, two parks, and an elementary school.
Recreation
Yorba Linda Parks and Recreation currently maintains some 135 acres of parks and sports fields.
Black Gold Golf Club is Orange County's newest premiere golf facility. This course boasts a par 72 championship design that spans 6756 yards. The club is named for its location on the old Shell Oil Field in the foothills above Yorba Linda, California. This is a very scenic golf course, and on clear days golfers can view the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. On the Eastside, the golf course borders the Chino Hills State Park. The Black Gold Golf Club is the focal point of the Vista Del Verde master planned community.
Yorba Linda residents enjoy some of the best park and recreation facilities in Orange County. The Department of Parks and Recreation currently stewards about 135 acres of parks in the City.
Equestrian facilities are a special favorite of local residents and there are equestrian arenas and trailheads at several local parks.
In addition, Yorba Linda parks feature lighted baseball diamonds and soccer fields, lighted tennis courts, picnic grounds, basketball courts and open space. The city boasts access to 100 miles of trails.
Chino Hills State Park, a gigantic natural open-space area in the hills of Santa Ana Canyon near Yorba Linda, is a critical link between natural areas essential to the survival of many animal species. Its 12,452 acres encompass stands of oaks, sycamores and rolling, grassy hills that stretch nearly 31 miles. Chino Hills is a place where people can escape the pressures of urban life and find peace and solitude in the natural environment. Visitors can camp for a few days or simply walk, horseback or bicycle ride over trails that meander through valleys and along ridge tops through woodlands, sage scrub and grasslands. Sixty miles of trails and fire roads also offer excellent opportunities for viewing wildlife and native plants. The community of Yorba Linda is lucky to have this gem as its backyard.
Yorba Linda has a huge community center that is available for private events. It has been used for wedding receptions, fundraisers, business meetings, holiday parties, and conferences. There are rooms for art classes and dance classes. The community center is highly attractive with landscaped grounds and distinctive architecture.
Special Attractions/Events
The historic Susanna Bixby Bryant Ranch serves as the site for the Yorba Linda Heritage Museum. The little museum, built in 1915, is itself a piece of Yorba Linda’s past, as it was part of a land grant to one of Yorba Linda’s original settlers. Each room depicts a different period of the city’s unique history, from native Indian times to artifacts from the first settlement founded by the Yorba family in 1809, and into the modern age of agriculture and residential neighborhoods. The museum’s grounds feature California beautiful native plants. The ranch house has been placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Yorba Linda is very proud of its Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace museum. It is a privately supported, non-profit institution whose purpose is to educate the public about the life and times of the 37th President. It also serves to promote interest in history, government and civic affairs. The nine acre Library & Birthplace is a walk-through memoir featuring a 52,000 square foot museum, 22 high-tech galleries and interactive video theaters, the exceptional First Lady's Garden, the President's realistically restored 1910's birthplace, and the memorial sites of President and Mrs. Nixon. The museum continuously hosts new and different events and exhibits, and each November displays Christmas trees from around the world.
For eight Sunday’s following Independence Day, Hurless Barton Park in Yorba Linda hosts its “Concert in the Park” series. Admission is free, and people are welcome to picnic on blankets in the park or be seated in the amphitheatre.
Each year, Yorba Linda hosts a community event called “Fiesta Days” on the last Saturday of October. A one-mile stretch of Yorba Linda Boulevard is transformed into a street faire for the day. The fiesta begins with a parade for local sports teams, politicians and musicians. In the afternoon there is live music and entertainment, food and games ensue. This is a terrific event and it is full of small-town charm.
Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
The area where Yorba Linda now sits was once occupied by the Juaneño Indians. In 1769, a Spanish expedition passed through, and a soldier named José Antonio Yorba petitioned the King of Spain for a land grant to the hills there. In 1810 he received the 62,000 acres that became Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. In 1834, his third son Bernardo Yorba combined his father's lands with those granted to him by Governor José Figueroa, creating one of the greatest ranchos of the time. Bernardo Yorba lived as a farmer on the land and raised his 20 children in the area.
After changing hands three times, the Yorba land turned over to the Janss Investment Co. of Los Angeles. The Janss Co. developed the town of Yorba Linda as a family community. The original town was smaller than today; much of the eastern portion of Yorba Linda has been annexed through the years.
Yorba Linda has had a development boom since residents voted to incorporate as Orange County's 25th city in 1967.
One of the early families to settle in Yorba Linda was the Nixons. Frank and Hannah Nixon and their son, Harold, built a home on Yorba Linda Boulevard in 1912. On Jan. 9, 1913, their second son, Richard, was born.
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